Willow Brook Road(77)
“The way she’s latched on to Sam is so obvious. All this talk about opening a day care doesn’t mean a thing,” Susie continued. “What she’s really interested in is finding a man and a ready-made family.”
Carrie knew there was little question that Susie was talking about her. She waited for her aunt Jess’s response.
“I’m not seeing that,” Jess responded quietly. “Sure, Carrie’s been pitching in to help out, but anyone in this family would do the same. You’ve certainly done your share to get Sam and Bobby into a new house with a minimum of fuss. And you’ve been scouring attics for furniture they could use. Does that mean you’re after Sam?”
“Of course not,” Susie said. “That’s entirely different.”
“How?”
“I’m just helping. Carrie obviously has an ulterior motive.”
Carrie froze in place at the horrible accusation. Before she could work up a full head of steam and confront Susie herself, Jess did it for her.
“That’s a pretty terrible thing to accuse your cousin of doing,” Jess said. “Since I know you’re not interested in Sam yourself because you’re happily married to Mack, something tells me this is really about Bobby. Am I right? Did you want to be the one who helped that little boy adapt to being in a new town?”
Silence fell, and for a moment, Carrie thought Susie might not answer.
“Maybe,” she finally admitted in a small voice. She regarded Jess miserably. “It’s so obvious that Sam’s not qualified to be anyone’s father. Even Carrie saw that for herself. He left that child in a car all alone, for one thing. Who knows how many mistakes he’s going to make and what could happen to Bobby because Sam’s so careless? And Carrie, of all people, is going to jump in and save the day? One minute she’s living it up in Europe. The next she’s opening a day care. Come on. What does that tell you about her stability?”
Carrie felt as if she’d been slapped. Rather than going outside to defend herself, she whirled around to go through the house and leave for home.
“Don’t you dare run away,” her mother said gently, standing in her path. She’d obviously overheard most of Susie’s remarks, as well. “You know she’s wrong. Susie is just upset with her own situation. She’s lashing out at anyone and everyone right now. The situation with Sam and Bobby has stirred up all those unrequited maternal instincts she has and she’s made you the enemy.”
“I get that,” Carrie conceded. “But no one in this family has ever said such spiteful things about me or anyone else before.” She regarded her mom with real dismay twisting in her gut. “You don’t think I’m that frivolous, do you? And you don’t think I’m trying to latch on to Sam, just so I can have a family? I would never do that. If anything, I’ve been ignoring the spark of attraction between us because I don’t think it would be smart to start something up with Sam when there’s a scared little boy in the mix who could get hurt.”
“Try reserving some of that compassion for Susie,” her mother said. “She’s hurting right now. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. Try to remember how much pain she must be in to feel the need to attack you. Don’t think I’m suggesting for a minute that she doesn’t owe you an apology, but consider the circumstances and try to cut her a little slack. Once she has her feet back under her, she’ll see how wrong she’s been.”
“Well, it’s pretty unlikely that’s going to happen today. I should leave before we get into it and ruin the day for everyone.”
“Didn’t you ride over with Sam?”
“Yes, but you can tell him something came up and I had to leave. I can walk home.” She gave her mom a pleading look. “Please.”
Abby looked as if she didn’t agree, but eventually she nodded. “I’ll tell him.” She gave Carrie a fierce hug. “Try to put this whole incident out of your head and please don’t let it spoil all of your excitement about opening a day-care center.”
“I’ll try,” she promised.
But Susie’s cruel comments, no matter the pain that was underlying them, weren’t something she was likely to be able to get out of her head anytime soon.
15
“I’m worried about Susie,” Mack confided to Jake and Will, his two best friends. It was after Sunday dinner at Mick’s and the three lifelong friends—all of them married to O’Briens—had retreated to the Adirondack chairs overlooking the bay, where they had some privacy amid the raucous games being played by the younger generation.